Method of Manufacturing Sample for Atom Probe Analysis by FIB and Focused Ion Beam Apparatus Implementing the Same

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a sample for an atom probe analysis of the invention is made one going through a step of manufacturing a concave/convex structure in both of a base needle and a transplantation sample piece by an etching working of an FIB, a step of jointing mutual members, and a step of bonding such that the concave/convex structure becomes a mesh form by a deposition working of the FIB.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Japanese Patent Application No. JP2006-303500 filed on Nov. 9, 2006, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a sample for an atom probe analysis by an FIB, and an apparatus capable of easily implementing that method.[0003]As means capable of directly observing an atomic arrangement of a needle point, there is developed an atom probe (AP: Atom Probe) that is a composite instrument of a mass spectrometer capable of detecting a single ion and a field-ion microscope (FIM). The AP is a solitary device capable of analyzing an electronic state, the atomic arrangement and a composition distribution of the needle point. Since a field evaporation orderly proceeds in every atom layer from a surface first layer, by the AP it is possible to investigate a composition or the composition distribution of...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015]Since the focused ion beam apparatus of the invention, which implements the method of manufacturing the sample for the atom probe analysis, is made one in which the member retaining the base needle additionally possesses, on the stage having the electric motored five-axis, the function capable of rotating about the needle axis and the function capable of switching the slant at least between 0° and 90°, by using freely the rotation function and the slant function it is possible to easily implement a transplanting / bonding method of the atom probe sample piece of the invention. Further, since there is adopted a form in which the member retaining the base needle is installed on the stage having the electric motored five-axis, there can be easily provided only by performing a working for attaching the retention member to an existing FIB apparatus.

Problems solved by technology

However, for this AP, there is a strict restriction in a manufacture and a shape of a sample, so that a field in which its characteristic can be practically used is limited.

In order to analyze the analysis object like this by using the AP, although it is necessary to locally cut out a place desired to be analyzed and fix it to a tip of a needle-like protrusion becoming an electrode while being cut out as a fine section, hitherto there merely exists only a conventional method of making a sample of metal material or the like into needle-like one, so that it is very difficult to analyze a fine specified site by the AP.

However, in this sample piece picking / transplanting technique, there is the fact that there generates such an issue that, by a strong electrostatic attraction force at an AP analysis time, a transplantation piece in a front from a joint part flies and is lost.

This issue is one generating because a strength of an interface between a deposition film and a material to be bonded, which are bonded by the FIB-CVD, is insufficient and they are exfoliated.

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